Joyce Louise Weatherholt Culver was born September 5, 1933 to Frank and Frances Weatherholt in Traverse City, Michigan. She passed away peacefully at her home in Houston, Texas, on October 20, 2023 at the age of 90 years, 1 month, and 15 days.
Joyce was raised in Old Mission Peninsula on a farm surrounded by cherry orchards. She and her siblings walked to school and had daily chores. It was priority that they shared their evening meal together every night. She became a registered nurse in 1954 from Mercy Central Nursing School. Her career in nursing displayed her love of infants and children. She met her husband, John Culver, through mutual friends in her home state of Michigan. They were married at Saint Joseph's Catholic Church, Mapleton, MI., June 2, 1956.
Military life took them to Arizona, California, New York, Colorado, Michigan, and Maryland. They retired from the Air Force and moved to Houston in 1971. Throughout this time, they raised seven daughters. Joyce was devoted to her husband of 67 years, 4 months, and 18 days. Everything in her life was about faith and family.
Joyce was blessed with seven sons-in-law that she loved as her own. Her generosity included gifts of Kitchen Aid mixers and hand-made crocheted Christmas angels. She loved and adored her 20 grandchildren that called her “Grandma/Grams/Grammie.” She knew exactly how to refer to herself for each grandchild. She cared deeply for all her grandchildren and their eventual spouses. Each family was given a little red wagon, and many grandchildren received a Cabbage Patch doll, or a teddy bear or a special cuddly toy with that child in mind. She never wasted an opportunity to ask about each one and what their current interests were and how they were doing. And if that wasn't enough, God blessed her with 14 great-grandchildren. She loved visits, pictures, and videos of their adventures. She was always very supportive of every family member. She included them in her daily prayers and was always happy to hear how they were doing.
When her children were young, Joyce made sure they attended Mass weekly, CCD classes, received all their sacraments, joined the Girl Scouts, encouraged band membership, supported church activities, and annual summer trips to Michigan. Joyce enjoyed gardening, bird watching, crocheting, and was an avid sports fan. She attended many activities and outings with her “Magic 50” group. This included a trip to San Antonio to attend Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II. Joyce and Natalie took advantage of many local craft fairs too. She was in awe at God's creation including the beauty of the nightly moon. She spent many happy times chatting with her siblings and longtime friends. Most of all, she enjoyed spending time with her family. She always prayed for and found courage to face life’s challenges.
Joyce was a lifelong Catholic. She was actively involved in church ministry. She and John were longtime members of Saint Ambrose Catholic Church.
Joyce is survived by her husband, John Culver; her daughters and sons-in-law Cecilia and Lem DuBose, Theresa and Chon Fierro, Cindy and Paul Di Noto, Debbie and David Glasscock, Becky and Tim Wood, Beverly and Mark Taylor, Natalie and Glen Curtis; her grandchildren Nick and Lindsey DuBose, Brian DuBose, Daniel and Becky DuBose, AJ Fierro, Justin and Candice Fierro, Ace and Courtney Fierro, Reece and Julie Fierro, Aubrey Di Noto, Angela and Joey Salinas, Joseph and Melissa Di Noto (daughters Alexa and Brooke), Laura and Jake Abshire, Rachel and Jack Spalding, Ryan and Haley Glasscock, Jessica and Travis Henry, Jacob and Amey Wood, Nate and Caycee Taylor, John Culver Taylor, Ike Taylor, Sarah and Austin Starkey, and Kyle Curtis; and her great-grandchildren Ace, Cruz, Amelia, Jocelyn, Isaac, Emery, Liv, Zane, Brynlee, JoAnne, Joey, Emmett, Wyatt, Sawyer; and many loving nieces and nephews, Raphael Rodriguez, and friends.
Joyce is preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Frances Weatherholt, her infant son Patrick Alan Culver, grandson Christopher James Di Noto, sisters and brothers-in-law Elaine and Oscar Thomas, Pat and Bob Wolf, Muriel and Gene Donoghue, Jean and Jerry Gleason, and brother and sister-in-law Phil and Marge Weatherholt, and John’s siblings Mary Culver, Robert (Josephine) Culver, Catherine (John) Reece, and Reverend Monsignor T. Joseph Culver, E.V.
Joyce will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her. We will be forever grateful for God’s mercy and loving kindness in providing a wonderful and loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.earthmanresthavenfuneralhome.com for the Culver family.
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